Mick’s All American Pub’s newest restaurant, which is located in Willow Street, opened last June in conjunction with Father’s Day. The restaurant joins locations in Lititz and Mount Joy, where owners Mick and Stephanie Owens first launched their pub-style dining concept.
Mick’s expansive menu covers the gamut and ranges from salads, sandwiches and burgers to pizza, wings and entrées such as ribeye, salmon and meatloaf. The beverage menu includes beer, wine and cocktails.
Each location has its own draw. For instance, Mick says Mount Joy tends to attract large parties thanks to its close proximity to Spooky Nook Sports and LCBC Church. The Lititz location has a natural, built-in audience thanks to movie goers at Penn Cinema. Visitors to the Willow Valley location often include families with relatives at Willow Valley Communities, guests at the adjacent DoubleTree Resort Lancaster, or members of the Penn Manor, Lampeter-Strasburg and Solanco communities stopping in after school activities or sports events.
Mick credits Stephanie with the interior design for the restaurants. “All the restaurants have about the same interior space – about 5,800-square-feet – but they’re laid out a bit differently,” he says. “We like what we did in Mount Joy, but we knew it could be enhanced.” Thus, like Mount Joy, the Mick’s at Willow Valley location is awash in natural light and it has a great patio. The difference between the two is a larger waiting area at Willow Valley, and the bar extends to the patio area. “That allows us to serve customers on the patio more effectively. The bartenders can serve both areas,” he explains.
Tuna Tacos entail pan-seared, rare tuna with a sesame seed crust and sriracha coleslaw wrapped in soft flour tortillas. They are garnished with scallions and cusabi dressing and served with red quinoa rice.
He maintains that the Willow Valley location is a great fit for Mick’s All American. “We had decided to close our Columbia Avenue location and were looking for another spot when the pad site at the Willow Valley Crossroads complex came up. There really wasn’t a neighborhood restaurant and bar in the area. We live in the Lampeter-Strasburg School District, so it’s great to have a restaurant where we can serve the community.”
Mick’s at Willow Valley seats up to 175 in the two dining rooms (one of which can be reserved for private parties), plus 25 at the bar and 60 on the outdoor patio. Mick says the patio, which overlooks a pond, was instantly popular with guests. “People really enjoy the pond and its gazebo. There’s a walking trail around the pond, so as they’re waiting for their table, guests will take a walk around it,” he says.
Chicken Fajitas are served with peppers and onions on a sizzling skillet. Accompaniments include soft flour tortillas, lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese mix, rice and beans.
All three restaurants share an eclectic menu that features Mick’s popular selection of wings (always fresh, never frozen) and appetizers such as fried pickles, crab pretzels, nachos and quesadillas. Soups and a wide range of salads are also available. Burgers (certified Angus beef) and sandwiches (including wraps, cheesesteaks, clubs and one called the Pubwich which is served on a pretzel-bread roll) account for Mick’s top-selling category of food items. Pizzas and strombolis are also on the menu, as are a limited number of entrées that range from ribeye and meatloaf to salmon and fish ‘n chips. There’s no set lunch or dinner menu – all items are available throughout the day. Menu items are made to order, and special orders can be accommodated. Daily specials are available, as well. An à la carte children’s menu offers burgers, hot dogs, PB&J and single chicken tenders.
Mick reports that the menu was recently tweaked. “It’s an incremental shift. We looked at what doesn’t sell well and took them off, replacing those items with those that were top-selling ‘specials’,” he explains. New menu items include BLT, red beet deviled eggs, chicken pot pie and Buffalo chicken dip.
The bar selection includes bottled and draft beer, wine by the glass or bottle and cocktails. Drink specials are offered daily.
For Saint Patrick’s Day, Mick’s will be featuring a special menu with items such as shepherd’s pie and bangers and mash. While Mick’s will not be doing anything special for March Madness, Mick notes that the TVs scattered throughout the restaurants will most likely be tuned to the college basketball tournament.
Regular activities at Mick’s include trivia contests on Thursday evenings and karaoke on Saturday evenings. A new event, Music Bingo, is slated to start this month (check Facebook posts for further details).
In addition to the three Mick’s locations, the couple also own a Mexican restaurant in Manheim Township’s Richmond Square, Maize Mexican Cantina, which opened in October 2018. A new menu was unveiled at that restaurant in January.
Mick’s newest location is at the Willow Valley Crossroads complex in Willow Street. It features two dining rooms, a bar and a spacious patio that offers a view of the pond.
Mick’s All American Pub is located at 2428 Willow Street Pike, Lancaster, 717-435-9696; 2201 Strickler Road, Manheim, 717-653-1220; and 543 Airport Road, Lititz, 717-517-8288. Hours are 11 a.m.-12 a.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m.-1 a.m., Friday and Saturday. (Note: kitchen closes one hour before closing time.) Takeouts available. Catering for off-premise events is offered. For details, visit micksallamericanpub.com and on Facebook.
